Harnessing Solar and Wind Power for Hybrid Stand-alone Energy System: The Case of Coastline Communities in Delta State of Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Most of the communities and towns in the riverine and coastline areas of Delta state of southern Nigeria have renewable energy potentials that have not been tapped. Though, these communities are rich in oil and gas deposits, however, as the world is gradually moving away from fossil fuel consumption, it is imperative to harness alternative sources of energy in this region. Therefore, emphasizes should be made in providing sustainable power supply for these off-grid communities, for economic growth and sustinable development. This study was undertaken to find a sustainable solution of the off-grid riverine and coastline areas of Delta State, Nigeria; by obtaining the weather characteristics of areas along the coastline and designing a solution that can be applied to the communities in this region. The areas considered in this study are the Escravos River, Forcados River and Benin River, comprising twenty six communities. A hybrid renewable energy system was developed considering the various communities in the region as a case study. The hybrid optimization of multiple energy resources software was employed in the study for evaluation of the prototye model. The results obtained from the study reflect that the electricity needs of the communities along the coastline areas of Delta State can be met with the design, simulation and construction of an autonomous hybrid microgrid either as a central arrangement for a cluster of communities, or as an individual arrangement for each community.